Page 132 of Bride By Initiation

She takes a seat next to me.

"He says it's the laws of The Underworld my father created."

Zara rubs her hands together and beams. "Ooh, this ought to be good!"

I chuckle. "You're crazy."

"Why am I crazy?"

"I don't know. Some things make my gut turn, and you spin it around into fun."

"Well, it's better we know than not know, isn't it?" She arches her eyebrows.

"I don't know. Is it?"

"I think so," she replies, and opens the cover. In a dramatic tone, she reads, "Welcome to The Underworld. The main goal is to get a seat at the table. Every level presents a challenge, but only the bravest and most deserving can earn a seat where they belong."

I take a deep breath.

She glances at me and wiggles her eyebrows, teasing, "Are you the most deserving and bravest?"

"No doubt," I answer, then quickly kiss her.

She continues reading. "There will always be 666 members who have a seat at the table."

I jerk my head backward. "666?"

"Yep."

"Isn't that number a sign of the devil?"

"Yes and no. In Revelations it's the mark of the beast, which had seven heads and ten horns, coming out of the sea. It's said to rule over all nations and tongues."

An uneasiness shifts in my stomach.

She adds, "It's a symbolic worldwide political system."

"Didn't know you were so informed on the history of symbols," I tease.

She laughs, then says, "It's also an angel number, representing a spiritual encouragement to refocus. We often focus on trivial things, obsessing over them to the point we lose sight of what's really important. So they say when you see 666, it's an angel nudging you to reassess the situation."

I stare at her.

She questions, "What?"

"How do you know all this?"

She shrugs. "It's interesting to me. But it kind of makes sense why your dad would choose it."

I arch my eyebrows.

She adds, "He brings both ideologies into play."

Confused, I ask, "How's that?"

"Well, if he really wanted to bring enemy families together, then he would need a new political system to rule over the families as one. And maybe he thought bad things were happening because families had lost sight of what's important and focused on trivial things. I don't know. Just makes sense to me," she states.

I ponder her statement then praise, "You're really smart."

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